Closed Borders = Economic Downturn

Name: Emmanuel Tilias
Sex: Male
Age: 30
Location: Cap Haitien, Haiti

We have just 4 cases in Haiti. We first discovered them yesterday (March 19th, 2020) . The whole country is upside down since the announcement made by the authorities last night. Even before we had any confirmed cases, the government closed our borders to the Dominican Republic to be able to manage the flow of people, and hopefully prevent the virus from greeting our shores. This has led to people’s attention being diverted away from the pandemic to how closing the borders is going to affect us economically. The reality is that now that we actually have confirmed cases, things are possibly going to get more difficult and people should probably focus their attention on preventative measures.

I own a company called Mèb Lakay Konpayi (Homemade Furniture Company). It is a furniture manufacturer that aims to create a sustainable, global market for Haitian-made products while fostering innovation and creativity. MLK prides itself in delivering durable handcrafted products through an efficient and eco-friendly process while highlighting Haïti’s rich and exotic culture. This – closed borders – is going to affect my business because the borders being closed mean slow access to supplies.

We have a dozen employees who will be obliged to temporarily stop working due to the general slowdown of the economy. 

Please share your #QuarantinedCaribbean stories with us. Have you lost your job? Are you now doing your job in different ways? Has it changed your social dynamics? How? Have you spent more time with family? How do you feel about all of this? Do you plan on gardening more after this? Are you playing more board games?

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